Having everybody dressed alike makes it much clearer to everybody where you come from. It makes you look more like a team and feel more like one.
Butt was a member of the Pasadena Under-16 female team that travelled to Cuba back in February to play some baseball against girls in Cuba as part of the Caribbean Baseball Goodwill Tour.
It was a 10-day journey that encompassed playing baseball, sharing good will and learning about the unique culture of a country far away.
On the baseball diamond in Cuba, Butt couldn’t help but notice that the girls in Cuba have very little when compared to what she has in Canada.
Some of the girls had jerseys, but most of them were different colours and in very poor shape.
Butt and her teammates would have brought some jerseys down with them if they had an inkling of how tough it is for youth who have very little in life.
Butt believes every baseball team should have matching uniforms.
And her and the girls want to do something about it.
The team is responsible for raising around $20,000 to bring the team to Pasadena in July and part of that effort will include finding money to purchase a full set of jerseys for the visiting squad.
“I think it’s important for them to have their own jerseys because it not only lets them represent their country, but it also shows the people around that they are really here and it’s officially a Cuban team in Newfoundland,” Butt said.
Butt wants the Cuban girls to know how much they enjoyed the hospitality shown to them when they travelled down to one of the poorest regions they ever seen.
Making sure they have fun, on and off the diamond, is the focus of Butt and company with guests coming to town.
“I hope that we can give them a good experience of the province and kind of repay them for what they did for us when we went down there,” she said. It will definitely help them remember the experiences they’ve had in their younger years.”
There will be a beehive of activities planned around the visit to provide the Cuban girls with a taste of our culture and Pirates coach Paul Briffett expects the community to play a key role in putting out the welcome mat for them.
“We feel that it’s important to give these girls an experience they’re never going to get in their life,” he said.
The Pasadena girls are ready to give them a taste of what it’s like to live in this part of the world.
